Remembrance
by unexpectedhero
Summary: When Batman finds a young girl whose stuggles with Bruce Wayne's same problems, what becomes of the Dark Knight? What will happen to his emotions, to his mind and body...his soul? What will he do to stop the horrible truth and flashes at night? Kill?


Just before night falls in, twilight dances in the air, the city is dusked by the red and orange array of colors in the sky. Between that second or so, it was the end, the end and the beginning of a whole chapter of someone's life. That split second is something people take for granted, but it's something that will only pass your mind once in a lifetime, never to disturb your restless, meaningless thoughts, again.

The Sun went out into sleep, the sky was dark and the light pollution pulled through Gotham City. The sky had a tint of blood red in the clouds, reflecting of all the blood shed that tainted Gotham's streets. The moon was close, seeming as if you could reach your hand out and touch the rocky, white, surface. The stars had disappeared, never to show its beauty to the residences of Gotham City; the buildings were the only source of light that one would find "beautiful".

Night wasn't only thing to see in Gotham City. There were parties, the strong enterprises, the amazing hotels, the pier, and the stroll around the park...and of course...The Batman. Jumping from roof to roof, the male in a bat suit is protecting his city. Upon any given day, he has the choice to put away the uniform and call it quits, but this man stays in the game, stays strong to fight against the evil. He wishes to turn the sky back to the dark violet-blue and dissolve the blood-red color forever. He wishes to keep the streets safe and...not let a child lose his parents...

"Master Bruce, this came in the mail for you."

"The" Bruce Wayne--CEO of Wayne Enterprises--sat in his cozy mansion housing; in his library he read a book, listening to the crackle of the fire in the corner. His mind was pulled away from that fantasy world to the real world, where his eyes looked up to see the familiar face of his butler, Alfred Pennyworth. A small smile cracked on Bruce's charming face. A smile of course, but no eyes to match it.

Bruce placed down the book on the chair's arm, and then extended his arm to grasp the envelope that was kindly handed to him by Alfred. "Thank you," Bruce said; his eyes scanned over the white envelope, seeing the stamp, where it came from, and what it was about. His eyes darted up when he came to find that the envelope was completely blank. A small glare--a flinch or suspicion--came to Bruce's eyes, sending the butler to take a step forward.

"Alfred, please, you have no concern with the Batman."

Alfred shook his head. "Maybe not, but I do have concern with Bruce Wayne, and I'm not letting him die alone as he would predict."

Bruce chuckled lightly at the butler's odd humor. The male's thumb slipped underneath the flap of the envelope and with slow movement, he pushed it up. Nothing happened; Bruce's eyes darted to meet Alfred's, who was sweating like a dog.

Bruce smirked lightly, then turned his attention back to the envelope. With care, he started to rip the flap to where the envelope was opened. With a sigh of relief, Bruce fell back into his chair and shifted his smirking gaze to Alfred who was also really relieved.

It was then, when the envelope exploded confetti and scared Bruce and Alfred. Bruce had jumped from his chair and pushed himself to his butler; his strong arms had brought the older male to the floor. Alfred cringed when his weak body slammed into the ground and when he heard a pop. Then, the library became to its normal state, the crackling of the fire and nothing more.

A heavy breath drew out from Bruce's mouth and he slid himself off of Alfred's body. "For a second there, I thought I might have lost you," Bruce said, dusting his hands as he sat on the floor, staring dumbfound at the opened envelope with colorful sheets of paper scattered around it. His sad, tired, eyes shifted to see Alfred just now sitting up.

"Whomever that was that sent it, should place a warning on it," he said sternly, dusting off his black butler suit. He came to his feet with a grunt, a humph, a way of having displeasure to any mail from now on.

Bruce nearly broke out into laughter, but the statement Alfred had caught the Batman's mind. Bruce came to his feet and slowly took small steps to the opened envelope. Bruce bent down, slipped it up with his fingers, and stood to his full height. His eyes scanned the envelope, then the confetti all across the tiled floor. "Alfred..."

"Who was it that sent it?"

"I don't know...I was going to say, could you--"

"Burn it?"

Bruce smirked, "No, clean up this mess, heh."

Alfred shot a playful glare at Bruce and nodded his head. "Certainly Master Bruce." Alfred left to find the dust and pan as soon as he had turned away from the master of the house.

Bruce slipped the letter out from the envelope and studied it carefully. His eyes went wide for a second, and the Batman was long gone in laughter.

From that laughter, Alfred came back running. Both he and Bruce knew that if it had to deal with laughing it was no other than the Joker. Alfred pushed himself; he pumped his leg muscles; he worked his weak body. He was afraid that the Joker had found out the Batman's true identity, had finally found a way to defeat the Batman. Alfred became to pant, afraid of his master's life.

Then...the laughter subsided. With that, Alfred sped off, afraid of Bruce's health...afraid he was...gone.

When the butler entered the room, Bruce was on the floor, passed out. In his hand the white envelope; at his feet was the letter that was securely in the envelope at one point. Alfred felt his heart sunk, then he dashed forward. He cried out his Master's name in anguish, fear, worry, sorrow.

- - -

A shine of light had blinded Bruce to wake up. He groaned softly, tossing and turning to stir himself to open his eyes. He was trying to, however, the headache that was pounded in his head had forced him to push himself back into bed, into a sleep. Bruce fluttered his eyes open to see that Alfred was sitting at his bedside, staring him down like some kind of mad dog.

"Alfr--gah!" Bruce had closed his eyes tightly. "Grr...what happened??"

"You happened..."

Bruce cracked one eye opened to see Alfred. "Wha-what are you talking about, Alfred??"

Alfred shook his head with a heavy sigh. "youhadmeworriedthere. You didn't get enough sleep; the Batman has taken his job to the next level and left Bruce Wayne to suffer."

Bruce pushed himself to sit up; his eyes went down to his legs to feel them shiver. "What?"

Alfred stood up. "You need your rest Master Bruce--"

"--What about the en--"

"--The was from the Police Department, they want BRUCE WAYNE to come and celebrate someone's promotion. A good way to get funding from Wayne Enterprises, don't you think?"

Bruce shook his head lightly. "What about my body? Why am I'm shivering?"

Alfred turned his head over his shoulder. "You're probably catching a cold, or that you need sugar to boost your blood sugar."

"Getting old does a timer on you, huh Alfred?"

Alfred shot a glare over his shoulder as he made his way out of the master bedroom. "Get some rest, Master Bruce. I'll have some tea up in a minute for you."

"Am I going?"

"Yes; yes, you are going and if you want to look your best, you need to get rid of those black bags under your eyes. No one wants to see Bruce Wayne collapsing at the party--Batman would be degraded if he didn't come to the rescue as soon as possible like he normally would."

Bruce fell back into bed--dreading that moment when his throbbing head collided to the pillow--with a small smirk to his "kind" butler. "I get your point, Alfred. See you when I wake up."


End file.
